Obama consults with Congress

Constitutional question is old one

2:12 AM,
Sep. 13, 2013

Secretary of State John Kerry, right, talks with U.N. Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, second left, in Geneva. Kerry flew to Geneva to hear Russia's plan to disarm Syria of its chemical weapons and avert U.S. military strikes.

Written by

John Vile

On Sept. 17, we will commemorate the 226th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. The American Founders formulated a system of separation of powers and checks and balances that vested one elected branch, the Congress, with power to declare and make appropriations for war and made the other top elected national official, the president, commander in chief.

In 1793-94, two important Founders, Alexander Hamilton, as Pacificus, and James Madison, as Helvidius, engaged in a debate on whether the president could declare neutrality in the conflict between England and France or ...